Working with us

Patients and the Public at the heart

We want to involve patients and the public at the heart of all we do, we want to listen and learn from our communities in the South West and for our work and decisions to be open, transparent and inclusive. The NHS Constitution states that the NHS ‘belongs to the people’. For the NHS to provide ‘High quality care for all, now and for future generations’ we need to ask questions, listen and act upon the views from our people.

In the South West we have approximately 4.7 million people living in two million households spread across the largest regional footprint in England. The rural nature of the South West is reflected in relatively large distances between the major towns and cities. To connect to our population we are connected to the thirteen Healthwatch organisations across the region. Healthwatch are connected to and talking to their local people about how a health and care system can be created that that truly meets the local needs of patients and the public.